The Tunnel's End
by LickleSoxy
Summary: Dean was not dead - he wasn't planning on dying any time soon, either - and the light currently containing his focus was neither bright or inviting. - Implied Dean/Gabriel.


**Pairing: **Dean/Gabriel (implied)

**Warning: **Mild swearing.

**Note: **Written for a Halloween Reverse Micro Bang. LiveJournal user candygramme made a wonderful piece of art which gave me the inspiration for this story.

**-o-**

**The Tunnel's End**

They say that, when you die, you see a light - a bright, glowing speckle at the far end of a darkened tunnel, that shines just enough to catch your attention. Upon seeing the spark, you are supposed to do everything within your power to reach its source, for ignoring the light will lead to pain and loneliness when death takes over you completely.

Dean was not dead - he wasn't _planning_ on dying any time soon, either - and the light currently containing his focus was neither bright or inviting. Emitting from Gabriel's palm, the soft glow was rather dull, almost as if it would dissipate if Dean were to blow vaguely in its direction.

Frowning slightly, Dean turned his gaze away from the offensive glow so he could inspect his surroundings. Could Gabriel not make the pathetic thing a tad brighter? What was the use of the light when those who _needed_ it - namely, Sam and Dean, for they were human and therefore incapable of seeing in utter darkness like the freakin' archangel producing the stupid light - couldn't see anything unless they remained glued to the source of it?

Dean shook his head. Pursing his lips as he looked around the room with disinterest, he could honestly admit that he didn't hold an ounce of care about anything but figuring out a method of escape from this place. He wanted out of the location as soon as possible.

"Where are we?" Sam asked, directing the question at Gabriel specifically. Turning his attention back to Gabriel, Dean could not help it when his eyebrow raised when curiosity seeped into him. Regardless of his desire to find a way back to familiar territory, he also wanted to hear whatever Gabriel would say in reply to Sam's enquiry; if it wasn't a quick statement, followed by an explanation of how to slip this joint, Dean would not be happy. He was _not_ in the mood to deal with this kind of crap.

"How the heck should I know?" Quirking an eyebrow as he responded, Gabriel stared at Sam as though he were some sort of moron for even thinking Gabriel would have the answer.

Letting out a snort, Dean once again found himself shaking his head. Of course that was Gabriel's answer; what else could he had expected? Gabriel was only useful when it suited his own needs; in situations where the brothers could actually use some insight from the archangel, he always seemed to lose all his intelligence. Dean suspected it was done purposefully, though he had no evidence to prove his assumption.

Blowing out a sigh, feeling the tickle of cool air pass over his warm lips, Dean scrubbed a hand over his face as he contemplated what could be done about the situation. There was a solution that _should_ be available to them, yet Dean had a feeling that, for whatever reason, should he voice the idea, the reply he would get would be the opposite of what he wanted. Lips forming a thin line, Dean found that the words wanted to be released, even if the response was not the one he desired.

"Any chance you can just zap us out of here?"

When Gabriel's only reply was to glare at him, Dean rolled his eyes.

"Okay, mister high and mighty, if you can't do that, could you at least turn up the lights?" Gesturing towards the soft light of Gabriel's hand with a nod of his head, Dean narrowed his eyes.

Gabriel shrugged. It was fast and definitive, and an action that Dean had not counted on. Confusion and fury washed over him in an instant; he let his own glare lower onto his features in the attempt to convey how irritated he was with Gabriel's failure to elaborate on the problem. Waiting for a few seconds, he watched with a growing anger as Gabriel let his gaze rise to the ceiling in what looked to be a show of annoyance.

Who the hell did he think he was? He had no right to get frustrated here, considering _he_ was the one offering up all the wrong answers and responses.

"I would if I could, Dean," Gabriel said, finally giving some kind of information out. "My mojo's barely working as is, which is also _why_ I can't just whip us out of here."

Dean saw Sam stiffen in the corner of his vision. If he were to glance in Sam's direction, he had the sneaking suspicion that Sam would be sporting the same expression Dean believed to be on his own face in this very moment.

"Something's blocking your powers?" The touch of concern that managed to slip into Sam's tone did not go unnoticed.

Before Dean could question it, though, Gabriel replied, commenting, "Seems like it."

The words were spoken a little too casually for Dean's liking. If there was something about this room - or worse, something _inside_ of it - that was capable of stunting an archangel's powers, shouldn't Gabriel be more worried? There was no way in Hell that whatever was causing the block would be friendly - his and Sam's luck was not good enough for it to be anything but _bad_ - and everyone present here had enough brains to understand this truth. So, where was Gabriel's concern?

The sound of the roar was unexpected. It came filtering around the room rapidly and loudly, piercing each and every corner of the area, and causing a sharp pain to shoot through Dean's ears. Clutching at his ears and trying to keep out the sudden onslaught of inhuman noise, Dean, startled and more than a bit panicked, darted his gaze to and fro between Gabriel and Sam, wondering if either had answers as to what was going on. Gabriel, for the most part, looked unfazed by the shriek. Standing there with the glow still flickering quietly in his palm, Gabriel's attention was directed solely at one of the far walls.

Sam, on the other hand, was fairing about as well as Dean was. Bent over slightly, his face was contorted into a grimace, his eyes were firmly closed, and his hands were planted over his ears in a feeble attempt at halting the noise.

Then, just as quickly as it had started, all sound in the room stopped. Save for the raspy pants of him and his brother, there were no other noises emitting from inside or around the location they were residing in. Standing back to his full height, warily letting his hands drop back to his sides, Sam peered around the area cautiously.

"What the hell was that?" he asked, and it wasn't clear if the question was meant to be rhetorical or not.

"No clue." Dean and Sam exchanged bewildered looks. Neither had experienced such a noise before, so they couldn't put an image to what could have produced it.

"Well, I'm putting a bet on it being _that_."

Features going blank for a second, Dean turned to Gabriel with what he hoped was a questioning expression. What on Earth was Gabriel talking about? It seemed the archangel wasn't paying him any focus though, for his eyes were locked onto something behind Dean. Twisting slightly and following Gabriel's line of sight so he could examine what had piqued his interest, Dean felt his body go cold as he caught sight of what Gabriel had been talking about.

It was _huge_. Spanning more than two thirds of the width of the wall, it appeared to be slouched - it was too big to stand at its full height inside this room - and had what Dean assumed were six legs. Staring stupidly at the shadowed creature, Dean was only absently aware of Sam's breath hitching beside him, as he too moved to see what all the fuss was about.

"Um, Gabriel?"

"Yeah?"

"What is that?"

Dean wasn't used to hearing his brother sound so... horrified? He'd heard fear and terror escape Sam's throat in a mixture of screams and shouts countless times, but this was different. Despite this, Dean knew that Sam was taking this new turn of events much better than he currently was. Although there had been a catch in Sam's voice, at least he could form speech. Dean had been stunned into silence. There was nothing he could do but stare as his body shut down, while his mind tried to make a hasty catch up as to what he should be doing right now. Running was one idea that popped into his head, and it was a very well received thought, but his legs did not want to cooperate.

That was a bad sign.

"I have no idea, but maybe you should ask it to be your new b.f.f.?" The tease was in complete contradiction with what Gabriel was thinking, if the blunt, dry way in which he'd spoken the words was any indication.

"Maybe we should run?" Sam suggested. Dean, without speaking, showed his agreement by nodding his head once. Fleeing was an excellent idea. In fact, it was probably the single option available that wouldn't get them killed in some horrible, painful way.

"That's a great idea. One problem: where we going to go, genius?" Gabriel said, and the familiar snark was not wanted. Feeling his hands ball up into fists, Dean had the sudden urge to throw something at the dick's head, even if it did provoke the _thing_ to attack.

"If you weren't so Goddamn useless, maybe we wouldn't have that problem," Dean bit back, finally finding his voice. It was a good feeling, one that would certainly have filled him with triumph if not for the fact that he'd spoken rather loudly. Any and all positive emotion from his outburst was drowned out by the utter feeling of disbelief when the creature suddenly moved. Craning its neck around and opening its eyes - Dean hadn't even realised it had them closed before now - the thing's gaze quickly locked onto the person that had awoken it from its apparent slumber.

Thankfully, another roar did not leave its mouth. Thinking it through, Dean could truthfully say that he'd have preferred it if one had, because what they got instead was not satisfactory. The low, rumbling growl was neither loud or friendly. In what little light they had, Dean could easily tell that its muscles had tensed, and that it was getting ready to snap at them in an unsavory manner. Whether it saw them as food or a threat didn't really matter; it was going to kill them either way.

Jerking in surprise when two sharp bangs echoed around the room, Dean's attention snapped to Sam and the gun he held in his hand. He hadn't known Sam had been carrying it - neither usually kept their guns on their person when in a motel room - and the shock of the weapon being fired had made Dean's blood run cold. What if bullets had no effect? What if, now that Sam had tried to cause it harm, the creature turned its full attention on him? Staring dumbly at his brother for a moment, Dean's wide eyes narrowed somewhat when he realised that Sam hadn't used any more bullets. Two shots was not going to bring something as big as that creature down, so why wasn't he still ploughing it with his remaining ammo?

Glancing at Sam's face for a split second, Dean was surprised to find that his brother looked positively dumbstruck. Beffudlement coursing through him immediately, Dean let his gaze fall back to the creature.

Dean openly gawked.

The thing had collapsed. Its body was slumped on the ground, and the holes in its head that indicated how good Sam's aim had been were much larger than they should be. There was no blood, of any colour, and the thing appeared to be dead. There was, however, something else spilling out of what was supposed to be two wounds. Small and colourful, the vast amount of objects scattered on the floor were recognisable upon simple scrutiny.

It was candy.

-o-

"I am going to kill you!"

"I'd really love to see you try, big boy," Gabriel replied; his grin only worked to make Dean want to strangle him all the more.

With his face flushed and his hands balled into fists tight enough to turn his knuckles white, Dean knew that, despite the obvious rage he was showing, no amount of scolding or insults would be able to wipe away the smug expression that was marring Gabriel's features. The bastard was enjoying this far too much.

Sam had, quite cleverly, fled from the motel the second Gabriel had made the illusion vanish from around them. The moment he'd seen the dank walls and ridiculously decorated beds, he'd shook his head and left after muttering, "Your fault, Dean - you deal with it."

Dean thought that his brother was being utterly unfair about the whole situation. Yes, he was the one who'd shunned Gabriel when the idiot had proclaimed that he wanted to go out for some candy. Sure, he was also the one who'd told Gabriel where to shove his desire to celebrate Halloween when the archangel had produced a bag from nowhere, asking them the traditional question that accompanied the action of holding an empty bag out.

But that did _not_ make this Dean's fault.

"You didn't give me a treat, so I tricked you," Gabriel explained; his grin easily transformed into a smirk. "That _is_ how it works, bucko."

Gritting his teeth together, Dean narrowed his eyes. "I am going to kill you."

"You've already said. Frankly, with the way you're talking to me, I think you deserve to be tricked again."

Mouth going slack, Dean gaped openly at Gabriel as his mind registered the words. Gabriel was joking, wasn't he? He had to be. Didn't he?

Staring stupidly at the archangel for a moment, Dean paled a touch. No, Gabriel wouldn't kid about something like that. Hell, the guy was practically _designed_ to pull tricks on people, and what better time to do so than Halloween? Ignoring the trickle of sweat that made its way down his neck, Dean swallowed back on the snide comment that had wanted to escape in response to Gabriel's statement. Provoking Gabriel would not be beneficial to him right now. Dean really wished he'd taken Sam's initiative and followed his brother through the door, away from anyone and everyone who was a fan of Halloween.

Gaze lowering to the dirty floor, Dean's mind raced as he tried to come up with a solution to his current predicament. He needed to either distract Gabriel so he could get out of here, or he needed to offer an alternative to what Gabriel wanted.

Dean's eyes widened.

The answer was obvious; he mentally kicked himself for not thinking of it immediately. Lifting his gaze back up so he could lock his eyes with Gabriel, Dean let a small, nonchalant smile rise onto his lips when he caught sight of Gabriel's expectant expression. Gabriel was waiting for a response to his earlier threat, it seemed.

"How about I give you a treat, and you leave me alone?" _Forever_. He added that last word on in his mind, rather than speaking it aloud. When one of Gabriel's eyebrows rose in curiosity, Dean held back on his desire to chuckle in triumph.

"Sure. What you got, hot shot?" The tone indicated that Gabriel wasn't expecting anything exciting, and it also conveyed that, although he clearly displayed signs of interest, he was bored by the direction in which the conversation had turned in.

Dean's smile faltered. He hadn't thought about what he could give Gabriel. Candy was pointless, since Gabriel could conjure up an unlimited amount without having to move. What did that leave, then? Enthusiasm pumping into him when an idea struck, Dean felt a sense of victory pour into him as he closed the distance between them and lowered his head.

In one fast movement, before Gabriel could question what he was doing, Dean pressed his lips to the archangel's. Gabriel went still. Feeling the warmth of another set of lips on his own, Dean blinked a few times in rapid succession, before staring at Gabriel blankly. Then, as if hit with a brick wall, Dean _finally_ realised what he was actually doing.

Eyes going wide, he pulled away from Gabriel and stumbled back a couple of steps. Realising that he was almost certainly blushing - the heat in his cheeks couldn't possibly be anything else - Dean opened and closed his mouth a couple of times without any sound coming out.

He'd just freakin' kissed Gabriel. What the hell had he been thinking? Had he gone insane? Why, after contemplating Gabriel's threat of another trick and coming to the conclusion that he did not want to deal with that hassle, had his brain thought it appropriate to make intimate contact, as though that would get Gabriel to let him off the hook?

"Huh."

Dean frowned. Bringing him from his thoughts, the tiny noise turned Dean's focus back to the archangel that was standing in front of him; the archangel that appeared to be licking his lips as his eyebrows lowered in concentration. Taking a moment to just watch Gabriel, Dean felt his frown deepen as the warmth in the skin of his face began cooling down.

"I guess that was okay, but not good enough," Gabriel said, locking his eyes once more with Dean's.

"What?" Dean asked.

Gabriel's trademark smirk lifted into place, much to Dean's chagrin, as his hand rose up from his side. As he waggled his eyebrows suggestively, Dean felt a sense of horrible foreboding wash over him. Not good enough? That meant that Gabriel hadn't accepted the kiss in place of giving him another trick.

Dean gasped. "You son of a-"

And Gabriel snapped his fingers.

-o-


End file.
